On Thursday night I was invited over to the Embassy of Ireland in Seoul for a special event. It had been a while since I’d been there, having been in on occasion helping promote Irish Association of Korea events, and for other reasons. I brought the family with me this time, and remembered to take a shave and a shower beforehand. The visit was worth the effort.
Myself and five other individuals were to be awarded for our contributions to the promotion of Irish culture in Korea. While I was undoubtedly the shortest tenured recipient of the award, the company I kept held no qualms about my presence at the ceremony.
With ambassador O’Donoghue and IAK chair, Shauna Browne
Among those were Tom Coyner, who chaired the organisation for seven years and has his share of stories from over the years, Byung Guen Chun, a Korean gentleman who was encouraged into participating…
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coming in august 2014 IN PAPERBACK: Private Down Under BY James Patterson & Michael White
Posted: July 13, 2014 in book launch, crime booksThe world’s most exclusive detective agency opens a new office–in Australia!
With the best detectives in the business, cutting edge technology and offices around the globe, there is no investigation company quite like Private. Now, at a glittering launch party overlooking the iconic Opera House, Private Sydney throws open its doors…
Craig Gisto and his newly formed team have barely raised their glasses, however, when a young Asian man, blood-soaked and bullet-ridden, staggers into the party, and what looks like a botched kidnapping turns out to be a whole lot more.
Within days the agency’s caseload is full. But it is a horrific murder in the wealthy Eastern Suburbs and the desperate search for a motive that stretches the team to the limit. Stacy Friel, friend of the Deputy Commissioner of NSW Police, isn’t the killer’s first victim—and as the bodies mount up she’s clearly not the last.
NYPD Red—the task force attacking the most extreme crimes in America’s most extreme city—hunts a killer who is on an impossible mission.
A vigilante serial killer is on the loose in New York City, tracking down and murdering people whose crimes have not been punished. The number of victims grows, and many New Yorkers secretly applaud the idea of justice won at any price.
NYPD Red Detective Zach Jordan and his partner Kylie MacDonald are put on the case when a woman of vast wealth and even greater connections disappears. Zach and Kylie have to find what’s really behind this murderer’s rampage while political and personal secrets of the highest order hang in the balance. But Kylie has been acting strange recently—and Zach knows whatever she’s hiding could threaten the biggest case of their careers.
“NYPD Red 2 is the next spectacular novel in James Patterson’s newest series, a book that proves “there’s no stopping his imagination.” (New York Times Book Review)
Burn BY James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge out Sept 29th 2014
Posted: July 13, 2014 in book launch, crime books
Detective Michael Bennett finally returns to New York City—and to the most unsettling, horrific case of his career.
At last, Detective Michael Bennett and his family are coming home to New York City. Thanks to Bennett, the ruthless crime lord whose vengeful mission forced the Bennett family into hiding has been brought down for good.
Back in the city that never sleeps, Bennett takes over a chaotic Outreach Squad in Harlem, where he receives an unusual call: a man claims to have seen a group of well-dressed men holding a bizarre party in a condemend building. With no clear crime or evidence, Bennett dismisses the report. But when a charred body is found in that very same building, he is forced to take the demented caller seriously—and is drawn into an underground criminal world of terrifying depravity.
Marcus Byrne: CENTRE FOR IRISH STUDIES, NUI Galway Undergrads Award Winner 2013 for ‘Brehon Laws Through Archaeological Enquiry’ thesis
Posted: July 12, 2014 in Uncategorized
Marcus Byrne
Marcus returned to education as a mature student in 2009, undertaking the BA Connect in Irish Studies, with joint honours in History and Archaeology at NUI Galway. While there, he was awarded a certificate of merit for excellence for his first year results. The final year of the Irish Studies course involved a three-month term of study on Erasmus abroad, which he spent in Leuven University, Belgium. His Irish Studies thesis was titled ‘Sculpture and Commemoration: Bronze Representations of Famine Memory’ which focused on commemoration of the Irish famine through various bronze sculptures in Ireland and abroad. He was awarded a distinction for this paper.
His final year history thesis entitled ‘Recovering Evidence of the Brehon Laws Through Archaeological Enquiry’ dealt with how early Irish Brehon laws could be recovered through archaeological evidence as discovered in recent excavations. Marcus is currently studying for a Masters in Landscape Archaeology at NUI Galway
Best Specialist
The Rage
A specialist games and vinyl shop whose customers are in the 18-30 age bracket, the Best Shops award led to an influx of older customers whose main interest is its music and vinyl offer and accounted for a “jump in record player sales for the month of September”, owner Nicholas Di Maio explains. “Just watching someone come across a particular record and you know that the album means something to them and takes them back to a beautiful moment in their lives. It’s those moments that I feel make the shop a bit magical.” The Rage, 16B Fade Street, Dublin 2, tel: 01-6779564, therage.ie
Best Bookshop
Charlie Byrne’s
Charlie Byrne’s bookshop is an ode to the written word. In fiction, hard-boiled crime writer Ken Bruen’s character Jack Taylor drops into the landmark shop to talk to the namesake owner and his manager, Vinny Browne. In real life, writers Pat McCabe and Kevin Barry were among the many fans who congratulated the pair on winning their Best Shops award, which Browne says has increased their business by 10 per cent. “It allowed us to expand our online presence and we now have customers from all over the world connecting with us,” Browne says. Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop, Cornstore Mall, Middle St, Galway. tel: 091-561766
A sequel to the hit 1990’s movie Mrs Doubtfire, is set to be made, according to U.S website The Hollywood Reporter.
According to the website, Robin Williams is set to re-assume the role of Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire, which he first played in the original film in 1993. The writer of ‘Elf’, David Berenbaum, is set to write the script while Chris Columbus has been tipped to direct.
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Camera make: Canon
Camera model: Canon EOS 300D Digital
Aperture: f/5
Shutter speed: 1/60sec
ISO: 100
White Balance: Auto
The View from The DJ booth 